IDF fighter jets engage in wave of attacks on Hezbollah after Israeli soldier killed

IDF warplanes carried out an extensive wave of attacks against Hezbollah deep in Lebanese territory on Wednesday in response to the killing of an Israeli soldier and the wounding of multiple others by rocket fire, the IDF said.

Earlier Wednesday morning, several soldiers were hospitalized after being hit by rocket fire in northern Israel as Hezbollah ramped up its attacks on Israeli cities.

An IDF base was hit in the barrage.

“A short while ago, numerous launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the areas of Netu’a, Manara, and into an IDF base in northern Israel,” the military said in a statement. “The IDF struck the sources of the fire.”

Sirens were heard in Safed, Meron, and across the Upper Western Galilee as a barrage of rockets struck.

After initial reports of a direct hit in Safed, Magen David Adom (MDA) stated they were providing medical aid to seven people – one in serious condition, one in moderate condition, and six in light condition. The wounded were transferred to Ziv Medical Center in Safed.

St.-Sgt. Omer Sarah Benjo was killed in the attack

The IDF later announced that the soldier in serious condition, 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Omer Sarah Benjo, died of her wounds.

“As we have made clear time and time again, Israel is not interested in a war on two fronts. But if provoked, we will respond forcefully,” said government spokesperson Ilana Stein.

“The current reality, where tens of thousands of Israelis are displaced and cannot return to their homes, is unbearable. They must be able to return home and live in peace and security.”

Stein and Israel’s military said on Wednesday that the army had responded to cross-border rocket fire from Lebanon.

Israel’s military chief, Herzi Halevi, who had been meeting the heads of local municipalities in northern Israel on Wednesday, said that despite what he described as achievements against Hezbollah, this was “not the time to stop.”

Firefighters from the Galilee-Golan regional station worked for hours to put out a fire in a building in Safed that broke out as a result of a direct hit by rocket fire from Lebanon, the Fire and Rescue team said in a statement.

Mateh Asher Regional Council head Moshe Davidovitz stated, “The north this morning is under a flood of missiles. I suggest the government and its leader wake up. The head of the Radwan Force spits on us time and time again, and we think it’s raining. I repeat: Without security, there is no North.”

Davidovitz has previously stated that the northern residents feel abandoned by Israel’s government amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the attacks by Hezbollah.

Two people were wounded in Kiryat Shmona on Tuesday after a direct rocket landed in the city.

At least 12 killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon

At least twelve people were killed in Israeli strikes targeting southern Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon and evening after the rocket fire toward the Safed area.

In the first wave of strikes after the rocket fire, a woman and her two children were killed in an Israeli strike on the village of al-Sawana, according to Lebanon's National News Agency. Hezbollah said a strike on a separate town killed one of its fighters. Eleven people were wounded across the south, and the level of damage was “vast,” the sources said.

Later in the evening, an Israeli strike targeted an apartment in Nabatieh, resulting in the deaths of at least four people from one family and four others, according to Lebanese reports. Several injuries were reported in the strike as well.

Hezbollah says will only stop when 'Israeli aggression' in Gaza ends

The head of Hezbollah said on Tuesday that the cross-border shelling into Israel would end only when Israel’s “aggression” against the Gaza Strip stops. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah threatened to displace more residents from northern Israel, where tens of thousands have already been evacuated due to months of Hezbollah rocket fire, adding that if Israel’s military widened the war, his group would do the same.

“On that day, when the shooting stops in Gaza, we will stop the shooting,” he said.

Gadi Zaig and Reuters contributed to this report.